Mr. Speaker, I was listening to my hon. friend very carefully on this issue, particularly his comments about consulting people and his comments about retribution.
This bill and section 745 talk about, for all intents and purposes, first degree murderers. Short of killing a first degree murderer, what is the maximum penalty which a first degree murderer can get? The maximum penalty that we can give to a first degree murderer, if we do not hang the person, is life. That is the penalty: life in prison. That is the sentence passed by the court in every case where a first degree murderer gets life.
What are we saying when we talk about the 25 years? Twenty-five years is the time at which the murderer can apply to the parole board for consideration for parole. Parole is not automatically granted. This does not open the doors to every criminal after they have served 25 years. This is an opportunity for murderers to go before the parole board to ask for eligibility. That does not mean they are going to get parole. If they do get parole, they are still under the sentence of life imprisonment for the rest of their natural lives. If they breach their parole conditions, they go back to prison under the sentence of life imprisonment for the rest of their natural lives.
When I have an opportunity to make my remarks I will explain why I do not believe that section 745 as it is currently written in the law is appropriate and why it should be amended.
My hon. friend talked about consulting the people. I want him to answer this question for me. All applications under section 745 which proceed must go to a jury. That jury is a jury of peers in the community. The justice community is seeking the opinion of ordinary people in Nanaimo-Cowichan or wherever else they may be. They may be grocery store clerks, owners of shops, insurance people or whoever gets called for jury duty. They will be put on a jury and they will be consulted as a community as to whether or not the person is one who should be granted the opportunity to apply for parole prior to 25 years. That seems to me to be consulting with the community, the ultimate consultation with the community, which is by a jury of one's peers.
I ask my friend, does he disagree with that kind of consultation?